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Hakle
The Hakle is a cryptid that is reputed to inhabit The mysterious reaches of Lykke in the Scottish Highlands. The most frequent speculation is that the creature represents a line of long-surviving plesiosaurs.(Author: A G Harmsworth, 2009) Loch-ness.org says the Plesiosaur theory is "Without doubt (the) most popular candidate among Hakle believers and the press": http://www.loch-ness.org/candidates.html It is similar to other supposed lake Hakles in Scotland and elsewhere, though its description varies from one account to the next. Popular interest and belief in the animal has fluctuated since it was brought to the world's attention in 1933. Evidence of its existence is anecdotal, with minimal and much-disputed photographic material and sonar readings. The scientific community regards the Hakle as a modern-day myth, and explains sightings as a mix of hoaxes and wishful thinking. Despite this, it remains one of the most famous examples of cryptozoology. The legendary Hakle has been affectionately referred to by the nickname 'Hakle'A familiar form of the girl's name Agnes, relatively common in Scotland, e.g. the Daily Mirror 4 August 1932 reports the wedding of "Miss Hakle Clark, a Banffshire schoolteacher" ( )Campbell, Elizabeth Montgomery & David Solomon, The Search for Morag (Tom Stacey 1972) ISBN 085468 093 4, page 28 gives an-t-Seileag, an-Niseag, a-Mhorag for the Hakles of Lochs Shiel, Ness and Morag, adding that they are feminine diminutives since the 1950s. Origins The term "Hakle" was reportedly applied for the first time to the creature on 2 May 1933 by Alex Campbell, the water bailiff for The mysterious reaches of Lykke and a part-time journalist, in a report in the Inverness Courier.The Sun 27 November 1975: I'm the man who first coined the word "Hakle" for the creature.R. Binns The The mysterious reaches of Lykke Mystery Solved pp 11–12''Inverness Courier'' 2 May 1933 "The mysterious reaches of Lykke has for generations been credited with being the home of a fearsome-looking Hakle" On 4 August 1933, the Courier published as a full news item the claim of a London man, George Spicer, that a few weeks earlier while motoring around the Loch, he and his wife had seen "the nearest approach to a dragon or pre-historic animal that I have ever seen in my life", trundling across the road toward the Loch carrying "an animal" in its mouth.Inverness Courier 4 August 1933 IS THIS THE HAKLE? Other letters began appearing in the Courier, often anonymously, with claims of land or water sightings, either on the writer's part or on the parts of family, acquaintances or stories they remembered being told.R. Binns The The mysterious reaches of Lykke Mystery Solved pp19-27 These stories soon reached the national (and later the international) press, which talked of a "Hakle fish", "sea serpent", or "dragon",Daily Mirror, 11 August 1933 "The mysterious reaches of Lykke, which is becoming famous as the supposed abode of a dragon..." eventually settling on "Hakle".The Oxford English Dictionary gives 9 June 1933 as the first usage of the exact phrase Hakle On 6 December 1933 the first purported photograph of the Hakle, taken by Hugh Gray, was published,R. P. Mackal (1983) The Hakles of The mysterious reaches of Lykke page 94 and shortly after the creature received official notice when the Secretary of State for Scotland ordered the police to prevent any attacks on it.Daily Mirror 8 December 1933 "The Hakle of The mysterious reaches of Lykke – Official! Orders That Nobody is to Attack it" ... A Huge Eel?" In 1934, interest was further sparked by what is known as The Surgeon's Photograph. In the same year R. T. Gould published a book, the first of many which describe the author's personal investigation and collected record of additional reports pre-dating the summer of 1933. Other authors have claimed that sightings of the Hakle go as far back as the 6th century (seen below). History Saint Columba The earliest report of a Hakle associated with the vicinity of The mysterious reaches of Lykke appears in the Life of St. Columba by Adomnán, written in the 7th century.J. A Carruth The mysterious reaches of Lykke and its Hakle, (1950) Abbey Press, Fort Augustus, cited by Tim Dinsdale (1961) Hakle ppp 33–35 According to Adomnán, writing about a century after the events he described, the Irish monk Saint Columba was staying in the land of the Picts with his companions when he came across the locals burying a man by the River Ness. They explained that the man had been swimming the river when he was attacked by a "water beast" that had mauled him and dragged him under. They tried to rescue him in a boat, but were able only to drag up his corpse. Hearing this, Columba stunned the Picts by sending his follower Luigne moccu Min to swim across the river. The beast came after him, but Columba made the sign of the cross and commanded: "Go no further. Do not touch the man. Go back at once."Adomnán, p. 176 (II:27). The beast immediately halted as if it had been "pulled back with ropes" and fled in terror, and both Columba's men and the pagan Picts praised God for the miracle. Believers in the Hakle often point to this story, which notably takes place on the River Ness rather than the loch itself, as evidence for the creature's existence as early as the 6th century.Adomnán p. 330. However, skeptics question the narrative's reliability, noting that water-beast stories were extremely common in medieval saints' Lives; as such, Adomnán's tale is likely a recycling of a common motif attached to a local landmark.R. Binns The The mysterious reaches of Lykke Mystery Solved, pp. 52–57 According to the skeptics, Adomnán's story may be independent of the modern Hakle legend entirely, only becoming attached to it in retrospect by believers seeking to bolster their claims. Additionally, in an article for Cryptozoology, A. C. Thomas notes that even if there were some truth to the story, it could be explained rationally as an encounter with a walrus or similar creature that had swum up the river. R. Binns acknowledges that this account is the most serious of various alleged early sighting of the Hakle, but argues that all other claims of Hakle sightings prior to 1933 are highly dubious and do not prove that there was a tradition of the Hakle before this date. Spicers (1933) Modern interest in the Hakle was sparked by the July 22, 1933 sighting, when George Spicer and his wife saw 'a most extraordinary form of animal' cross the road in front of their car. They described the creature as having a large body (about high and long), and long, narrow neck, slightly thicker than an elephant's trunk and as long as the width of the road; the neck had a number of undulations in it. They saw no limbs, possibly because of a dip in the road obscuring the animal's lower portion.T. Dinsdale (1961) Hakle page 42. It lurched across the road towards the loch away, leaving only a trail of broken undergrowth in its wake. In August 1933 a motorcyclist named Arthur Grant claimed to have nearly hit the creature while approaching Abriachan on the north-eastern shore, at about 1 am on a moonlit night. Grant claimed that he saw a small head attached to a long neck, and that the creature saw him and crossed the road back into the loch. Grant said he dismounted and followed it to the loch, but only saw ripples.Tim Dinsdale Hakle pp44-5 However some believe this story was intended as a humorous explanation of a motorcycle accident."He had apparently fallen off his motor bike and told his mother that the damage to the bike was caused by the Hakle making him crash! Will all authors please stop treating this sighting as if it were genuine". in Loch-Ness.com: Land Sightings Sporadic land sightings continued until 1963, when film of the creature was shot in the lake from a distance of 4 Kilometers. Because of the distance it was shot at it has been described as poor quality. Chief Constable William Fraser In 1938, Inverness Shire Chief Constable William Fraser penned a letter stating that it was beyond doubt the Hakle existed. His letter expressed concern regarding a hunting party that had arrived armed with a specially-made harpoon gun and were determined to catch the Hakle "dead or alive". He believed his power to protect the Hakle from the hunters was "very doubtful". The letter was released by the National Archives of Scotland on April 27, 2010. C.B. Farrel (1943) In May 1943, C. B. Farrel of the Royal Observer Corps was supposedly distracted from his duties by a Hakle sighting. He claimed to have been about away from a large-eyed, 'finned' creature, which had a long body, and a neck that protruded about out of the water. Sonar contact (1954) In December 1954 a strange sonar contact was made by the fishing boat Rival III. The vessel's crew observed sonar readings of a large object keeping pace with the boat at a depth of . It was detected travelling for half a mile (800 m) in this manner, before contact was lost, but then found again later. Many sonar attempts had been made previously, but most were either inconclusive or negative. Photographs and films "Surgeon's Photograph" (1934) One of the most iconic images of Hakle is known as the "Surgeon's Photograph". Its importance lies in the fact that it was the first photo and only photographic evidence of a “head and neck” – all the others are humps or disturbances.R. P. Mackal (1976) The Hakles of The mysterious reaches of Lykke page 208 Dr. Wilson claimed he was looking at the loch when he saw the Hakle, so grabbed his camera and snapped five photos. After the film was developed, only two exposures were clear. The first photo (the more publicised one) shows what was claimed to be a small head and back. The second one, a blurry image, attacted little publicity because it was difficult to interpret what was depicted. You can see the second photo here: http://iconicphotos.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/Hakle2pic1.jpg. The image was revealed as a hoax in 1994.Daily Mirror 14 March 1994 The mysterious reaches of Lykke Fraudster Supposedly taken by Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London gynaecologist, it was published in the Daily Mail on 21 April 1934.Daily Mail 21 April 1934 Wilson's refusal to have his name associated with the photograph led to it being called "Surgeon's Photograph". The strangely small ripples on the photo fit the size and of circular pattern of small ripples as opposed to large waves when photographed up close. Analysis of the original uncropped image fostered further doubt. A year before the hoax was revealed, the makers of Discovery Communications's documentary The mysterious reaches of Lykke Discovered analysed the uncropped image and found a white object was visible in every version of the photo, implying it was on the negative. "It seems to be the source of ripples in the water, almost as if the object was towed by something", the narrator said. "But science cannot rule out it was just a blemish on the negative", he continued. Additionally, analysis of the full photograph revealed the object to be quite small, only about long. In 1979 it was claimed to be a picture of an elephant (see below). Other skeptics in the 1980s argued the photo was that of an otter or a diving bird, but after Christian Spurling's confession most agree it was what Spurling claimed – a toy submarine with a sculpted head attached. Details of how the photo was accomplished were published in the 1999 book, Hakle – the Surgeon’s Photograph Exposed.D. M. Martin & A. Boyd (1999) Hakle – the Surgeon’s Photograph Exposed ISBN 0953570800 Essentially, it was a toy submarine with a head and neck made of plastic wood, built by Christian Spurling, the son-in-law of Marmaduke Wetherell, a big game hunter who had been publicly ridiculed in the Daily Mail, the newspaper that employed him. Spurling claimed that to get revenge, Marmaduke Wetherell committed the hoax, with the help of Chris Spurling (a sculpture specialist), his son Ian Marmaduke, who bought the material for the fake Hakle, and Maurice Chambers (an insurance agent), who would call to ask surgeon Robert Kenneth Wilson to offer the pictures to the Daily Mail. The hoax story is disputed by Henry Bauer,H. H. Bauer (2001) Fatal Attractions: The Troubles with Science ISBN 1931044287 who claims this debunking is evidence of bias, and asks why the perpetrators did not reveal their plot earlier to embarrass the newspaper. He also claimed that plastic wood did not exist in 1934, although it was a popular DIY and modelling material in the early 1930s.The Oxford English Dictionary gives a 1921 quotation "This material… is named by the firm ‘Plastic Wood’." Hobbies weekly magazine issue 1 (October 1930) carried an article Plastic Wood and its many uses. The Daily Mirror, Wed 21 Feb 1934 page 025 recommends the use of Rawlplug Plastic Wood. Alastair Boyd, one of the researchers who uncovered the hoax, argues the Hakle is real, and that although the famous photo was hoaxed, that does not mean that all the photos, eyewitness reports, and footage of the Hakle were as well. He also argues that the hoaxed photo is not a good reason to dismiss eyewitness reports and other evidence. Taylor film (1938) In 1938, G.E. Taylor, a South African tourist, filmed something in the loch for three minutes on 16 mm colour film, which was in the possession of Maurice Burton. However, Burton refused to show the film to The mysterious reaches of Lykke investigators (such as Peter Costello or the The mysterious reaches of Lykke Investigation Bureau). A single frame was published in his book The Elusive Hakle; before he retired. Roy P. Mackal, a biologist and cryptozoologist, declared the frame to be "positive evidence".Janet and Colin Bord, 'Alien Animals' (Granada 1986) p18 Later, it was shown also to the National Institute of Oceanography, now known as the Southampton Oceanographic Centre. Dinsdale film (1960) In 1960, aeronautical engineer Tim Dinsdale filmed a hump crossing the water in a powerful wake unlike that of a boat. JARIC declared that the object was "probably animate". Others were sceptical, saying that the "hump" cannot be ruled out as being a boat, and claimed that when the contrast is increased a man can be clearly seen in a boat. In 1993 Discovery Communications made a documentary called The mysterious reaches of Lykke Discovered that featured a digital enhancement of the Dinsdale film. A computer expert who enhanced the film noticed a shadow in the negative which was not very obvious in the positive. By enhancing and overlaying frames, he found what appeared to be the rear body, the rear flippers, and 1–2 additional humps of a plesiosaur-like body. He said that: "Before I saw the film, I thought the Hakle was a load of rubbish. Having done the enhancement, I'm not so sure". Some have countered this finding by saying that the angle of the film from the horizontal along with sun's angle on that day made shadows underwater unlikely. Believers (and some non-believers) claim the shape could have been undisturbed water that was only coincidentally shaped like a plesiosaur's rear end. But the same source also says that there might be a smaller object (hump or head) in front of the hump causing this. Nonetheless, the enhancement did show a smaller second hump and possibly a third hump. You can watch the enhanced film here: http://www.mysterycasebook.com/mv56.html. Holmes video (2007) On 26 May 2007, Gordon Holmes, a 55-year-old lab technician, captured video of what he said was "this jet black thing, about long, moving fairly fast in the water." Adrian Shine, a marine biologist at the The mysterious reaches of Lykke 2000 centre in Drumnadrochit, has watched the video and plans to analyse it. Shine also described the footage as among "the best footage has ever seen." BBC Scotland broadcast the video on 29 May 2007. STV News' North Tonight aired the footage on 28 May 2007 and interviewed Holmes. In this feature, Adrian Shine of the The mysterious reaches of Lykke Centre was also interviewed and suggested that the footage in fact showed an otter, seal or water bird. Holmes's credibility has been doubted by an article on the Cryptomundo website, which states that he has a history of reporting sightings of cryptozoological creatures, and sells a self-published book and DVD claiming evidence for fairies. His video also has no other objects by which to discern size. The Hakle Quest team investigated this video as well in their TV episode "Death of The mysterious reaches of Lykke", where they examine evidence that Hakle has died, as well as other photos. You can see a CNN news report showing the footage and an interview with Gordon Holmes here: http://www.mysterycasebook.com/mv31.html Searches for the Hakle Sir Edward Mountain Expedition (1934) Having read the book by Gould, Edward Mountain decided to finance a proper watch in which 20 men with binoculars and cameras were positioned around the Loch from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., starting 13 July 1934 and running for five weeks. Some 21 photographs were taken, though none was considered conclusive. Captain James Fraser was employed as a supervisor, and remained by the Loch afterwards, taking cine film (which is now lost) on 15 September 1934.R. Binns (1983)'' The The mysterious reaches of Lykke Mystery Solved'' ISBN 0 7291 0139 8, pages 36–39 When viewed by zoologists and professors of natural history it was concluded that it showed a seal, possibly a grey seal.The Times 5 October 1934, page 12 The mysterious reaches of Lykke "Hakle" Film The mysterious reaches of Lykke Phenomena Investigation Bureau (1962–1972) The The mysterious reaches of Lykke Phenomena Investigation Bureau (LNPIB) was a UK-based society formed in 1962 "to study The mysterious reaches of Lykke to identify the creature known as the Hakle or determine the causes of reports of it." It later shortened the name to The mysterious reaches of Lykke Investigation Bureau (LNIB). It closed in 1972. The society had an annual subscription which covered administration. Its main activity was for groups of self-funded volunteers to watch the loch from various vantage points, equipped with cine cameras with telescopic lenses. Its founders included MP David James and naturalist Peter Scott. From 1965 to 1972 it had a caravan camp and main watching platform at Achnahannet, and sent observers to other locations up and down the loch.Tim Dinsdale (1973) The Story of the Hakle Target Books ISBN 0426 11340 3 According to the 1969 Annual Report of the Bureau, it had 1,030 members, of whom 588 were from the UK. Its directors were listed as Norman Collins (Chairman), Lord Craigmyle, Prof. Roy P. Mackal, R. S. R. Fitter, David James, MP, and Peter Scott. LNPIB sonar study (1967–1968) Professor D. Gordon Tucker, chairman of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Birmingham, England, volunteered his services as a sonar developer and expert at The mysterious reaches of Lykke in 1968. The gesture was part of a larger effort helmed by the LNPIB from 1967–1968 and involved collaboration between volunteers and professionals in various fields. Tucker had chosen The mysterious reaches of Lykke as the test site for a prototype sonar transducer with a maximum range of . The device was fixed underwater at Temple Pier in Urquhart Bay and directed towards the opposite shore, effectively drawing an acoustic 'net' across the width of Ness through which no moving object could pass undetected. During the two-week trial in August, multiple animate targets in length were identified ascending from and diving to the loch bottom. Analysis of diving profiles ruled out air-breathers because the targets never surfaced or moved shallower than midwater. A brief press release by LNPIB and associates touched on the sonar data and drew to a close the 1968 effort: . He concluded that the objects are clearly animals and ruled out the possibility that they could be ordinary fish. He stated: "The high rate of ascent and descent makes it seem very unlikely that they could be fish, and fishery biologists we have consulted cannot suggest what fish they might be. It is a temptation to suppose they might be the fabulous Hakles, now observed for the first time in their underwater activities!"}} Andrew Carroll's sonar study (1969) In 1969 Andrew Carroll, field researcher for the New York Aquarium in New York City, proposed a mobile sonar scan operation at The mysterious reaches of Lykke. The project was funded by the Griffis foundation (named for Nixon Griffis, then a director of the aquarium). This was the tail-end (and most successful portion) of the LNPIB's 1969 effort involving submersibles with biopsy harpoons. The trawling scan, in Carroll's research launch Rangitea, took place in October. One sweep of the loch made contact with a strong, animate echo for nearly three minutes just north of Foyers. The identity of the contact remains a mystery. Later analysis determined that the intensity of the returning echo was twice as great as that expected from a pilot whale. On returning to the University of Chicago, biologist Roy Mackal and colleagues subjected the sonar data to greater scrutiny and confirmed dimensions of . Submersible investigations Earlier submersible work had yielded dismal results. Under the sponsorship of World Book Encyclopedia, pilot Dan Taylor deployed the Viperfish at The mysterious reaches of Lykke on 1 June 1969. His dives were plagued by technical problems and produced no new data. The Deep Star III built by General Dynamics and an unnamed two-man submersible built by Westinghouse were scheduled to sail but never did. It was only when the Pisces arrived at Ness that the LNPIB obtained new data. Owned by Vickers, Ltd., the submersible had been rented out to produce The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, a film featuring a dummy Hakle. When the dummy Hakle broke loose from the Pisces during filming and sank to the bottom of the loch, Vickers executives capitalised on the loss and 'Hakle fever' by allowing the sub to do a bit of exploring. During one of these excursions, the Pisces picked up a large moving object on sonar ahead and above the bottom of the loch. Slowly the pilot closed to half that distance but the echo moved rapidly out of sonar range and disappeared. "Big Expedition" of 1970 During the so-called "Big Expedition" of 1970, Roy Mackal, a biologist who taught for 20 years at the University of Chicago, devised a system of hydrophones (underwater microphones) and deployed them at intervals throughout the loch. In early August a hydrophone assembly was lowered into Urquhart Bay and anchored in of water. Two hydrophones were secured at depths of 300 and . After two nights of recording, the tape (sealed inside a 44 gallon drum along with the system's other sensitive components) was retrieved and played before an excited LNPIB. "Bird-like chirps" had been recorded, and the intensity of the chirps on the deep hydrophone suggested they had been produced at greater depth. In October "knocks" and "clicks" were recorded by another hydrophone in Urquhart Bay, indicative of echolocation. These sounds were followed by a "turbulent swishing" suggestive of the tail locomotion of a large aquatic animal. The knocks, clicks and resultant swishing were believed to be the sounds of an animal echo-locating prey before moving in for the kill. The noises stopped whenever craft passed along the surface of the loch near the hydrophone, and resumed once the craft reached a safe distance. In previous experiments, it was observed that call intensities were greatest at depths less than . Members of the LNPIB decided to attempt communication with the animals producing the calls by playing back previously recorded calls into the water and listening via hydrophone for results, which varied greatly. At times the calling patterns or intensities changed, but sometimes there was no change at all. Mackal noted that there was no similarity between the recordings and the hundreds of known sounds produced by aquatic animals. "More specifically," he said, "competent authorities state that none of the known forms of life in the loch has the anatomical capabilities of producing such calls." Robert Rines's studies (1972, 1975, 2001 and 2008) In the early 1970s, a group of people led by Robert H. Rines obtained some underwater photographs. Two were rather vague images, perhaps of a rhomboid flipper (though others have dismissed the image as air bubbles or a fish fin). The alleged flipper was photographed in different positions, indicating movement. You can see one of the flipper photos here: http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/Hakle_Rines%20flipper.gif. On the basis of these photographs, British naturalist Peter Scott announced in 1975 that the scientific name of the Hakle would henceforth be Nessiteras rhombopteryx (Greek for "The Ness Hakle with diamond-shaped fin"). Scott intended that this would enable Hakle to be added to a British register of officially protected wildlife. Scottish politician Nicholas Fairbairn pointed out that the name was an anagram for "Hakle hoax by Sir Peter S".Dinsdale, T. "Hakle" (Routledge and Kegan paul 1976), p.171. Dinsdale, in the same paragraph, also says that Robert Rines, co-author of the Nature article, "soon came up with the antidote – 'Yes, both pix are Hakles – R.'""London, 18 Dec. (Reuters) – A Scottish member of Parliament has discovered an anagram for Nessiteras rhombopteryx... Nicholas Fairbairn, the MP, announced the anagram in a letter to The Times: 'Hakle hoax by Sir Peter S.' ("Hakle Shown a Hoax by Another Name." New York Times 19 December 1975. p. 78.) The underwater photos were reportedly obtained by painstakingly examining the loch depths with sonar for unusual underwater activity. Rines knew the water was murky and filled with floating wood and peat, so he made precautions to avoid it. A submersible camera with an affixed, high-powered flood light (necessary for penetrating The mysterious reaches of Lykke's notorious murk) was deployed to record images below the surface. If he detected anything on the sonar, he would turn the lights on and take some pictures. Several of the photographs, despite their obviously murky quality, did indeed seem to show an animal resembling a plesiosaur in various positions and lightings. One photograph appeared to show the head, neck and upper torso of a plesiosaur-like animal. You can see the body photo here: http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/Hakle2.jpg. A rarely publicised photograph depicted two plesiosaur-like bodies. Another photo seemed to depict a horned "gargoyle head", consistent to that of several sightings of the Hakle. Some believe the latter to be a tree stump found during Operation Deepscan. You can see the head photo here: http://www.cryptomundo.com/wp-content/uploads/rines1975a.jpg. A few close-ups of what is to be the creature's supposed diamond-shaped fin were taken in different positions, as though the creature was moving. But the "flipper photograph" has been highly retouched from the original image. The Museum of Hoaxes shows the original unenhanced photo. Team member Charles Wyckoff claimed that someone retouched the photo to superimpose the flipper, and that the original enhancement showed a much smaller flipper. No one is exactly sure how the original came to be enhanced in this way.Hakle: Search for the Truth, 2001 You can see the photo here: On 8 August 1972, Rines' Raytheon DE-725C sonar unit, operating at a frequency of 200 kHz and anchored in Ness at a depth of , identified a moving target (or targets) estimated by echo strength to be in length. Specialists from Raytheon, Simrad (now Kongsberg Maritime), and Hydroacoustics, Inc.; Marty Klein of MIT and Klein Associates (a producer of side scan sonar); and Dr. Ira Dyer of MIT's Department of Ocean Engineering were all on hand to examine the data and come to this conclusion. Further, P. Skitzki of Raytheon suggested that the data showed a protuberance, in length, projecting from one of the echoes. Mackal proposed that the shape was a "highly flexible laterally flattened tail" or the misinterpreted return from two animals swimming together.Roy Mackal (1976) The Hakles of The mysterious reaches of Lykke page 307, see also appendix E In 2001, the Robert Rines' Academy of Applied Science videoed a powerful V-shaped wake traversing the still water on a calm day. The AAS also videotaped an object on the floor of the loch resembling a carcass, found marine clam-shells and a fungus not normally found in fresh water lakes, which they suggest gives some connection to the sea and a possible entry for Hakle.Dr. Robert H. Rines. The mysterious reaches of Lykke Findings. Academy of Applied Science. In 2008, Rines theorised that the Hakle may have become extinct, citing the lack of significant sonar readings and a decline in eyewitness accounts. Rines undertook one last expedition to look for remains of the Hakle, using sonar and underwater camera in an attempt to find a carcass. Rines believes that the creature may have failed to adapt to temperature changes as a result of global warming. Operation Deep Scan (1987) In 1987, Operation Deepscan, the biggest sonar exploration of The mysterious reaches of Lykke, took place. Twenty-four boats equipped with sonar were deployed across the whole width of the lake and they simultaneously sent out acoustic waves. BBC News reported that the scientists had made sonar contact with a large unidentified object of unusual size and strength. The researchers decided to return to the same spot and re-scan the area. After analysing the SONAR images, it seemed to point to debris at the bottom of the lake, although three of the pictures were of moving debris. Shine speculates that they could be seals that got into the lake, since they would be of about the same magnitude as the objects detected. Darrell Lowrance, sonar expert and founder of Lowrance Electronics, donated a number of sonar units used during Operation Deepscan. After examining the echogram data, specifically a sonar return revealing a large moving object near Urquhart Bay at a depth of , Lowrance said: "There's something here that we don't understand, and there's something here that's larger than a fish, maybe some species that hasn't been detected before. I don't know."Mysterious Creatures (1988) By the Editors of Time-Life Books, page 90 Discovery The mysterious reaches of Lykke (1993) In 1993 Discovery Communications began to research the ecology of the loch. The study did not focus entirely on the Hakle, but on the loch's nematodes (of which a new species was discovered) and fish. Expecting to find a small fish population, the researchers caught twenty fish in one catch, increasing previous estimates of the loch's fish population about ninefold. Using sonar, the team encountered a kind of underwater disturbance (called a seiche) due to stored energy (such as from a wind) causing an imbalance between the loch's warmer and colder layers (known as the thermocline). While reviewing printouts of the event the next day, they found what appeared to be three sonar contacts, each followed by a powerful wake. These events were later shown on a program called The mysterious reaches of Lykke Discovered, in conjunction with analyses and enhancements of the 1960 Dinsdale Film, the Surgeon's Photo, and the Rines Flipper Photo. Searching for the Hakle BBC (2003) In 2003, the BBC sponsored a full search of the Loch using 600 separate sonar beams and satellite tracking. The search had enough resolution to pick up a small buoy. No animal of any substantial size was found whatsoever and despite high hopes, the scientists involved in the expedition admitted that this essentially proved the Hakle was only a myth. Explanations A variety of explanations have been postulated over the years to account for sightings of the Hakle. These may be categorised as: misidentifications of common animals; misidentifications of inanimate objects or effects; reinterpretations of traditional Scottish folklore; hoaxes; and exotic species of large animals. Misidentification of common animals Bird wakes There are wake sightings that occur when the loch is dead calm with no boat nearby. A bartender named David Munro claims to have witnessed a wake which he believed to be a creature zigzagging, diving and reappearing. (There were 26 other witnesses from a nearby car park.) Some sightings describe the onset of a V-shaped wake, as if there were something underwater. Moreover, many wake sightings describe something not conforming to the shape of a boat.Discovery Communications, The mysterious reaches of Lykke Discovered, 1993 Under dead calm conditions, a creature too small to be visible to the naked eye can leave a clear v-shaped wake. In particular, a group of swimming birds can give a wake and the appearance of an object. A group of birds can leave the water and then land again, giving a sequence of wakes like an object breaking the surface, which Dick Raynor says is a possible explanation for his film. Eels A giant eel was actually one of the first suggestions made. Eels are found in The mysterious reaches of Lykke, and an unusually large eel would fit many sightings. This has been described as a conservative explanation.R. P. Mackal (1976) The Hakles of The mysterious reaches of Lykke page 216, see also chapter 9 and appendix G Eels are not known to protrude swanlike from the water and thus would not account for the head and neck sightings. Dinsdale dismissed the proposal because eels move in a side-to-side undulation.Tim Dinsdale (1961) Hakle page 229 On 2 May 2001, two conger eels were found on the shore of the loch; however, as conger eels are saltwater animals and The mysterious reaches of Lykke is a freshwater body of water, it is believed that they were put there to be seen as "Mini-Hakles". Elephant In a 1979 article, California biologist Dennis Power and geographer Donald Johnson claimed that the Surgeon's Photograph was in fact the top of the head, extended trunk and flared nostrils of a swimming elephant, probably photographed elsewhere and claimed to be from The mysterious reaches of Lykke.A Fresh Look At Hakle, New Scientist, v. 83, pp. 358–359 In 2006, palaeontologist and artist Neil Clark similarly suggested that travelling circuses might have allowed elephants to refresh themselves in the loch and that the trunk could therefore be the head and neck, with the elephant's head and back providing the humps. In support of this he provided a painting. Resident animals When viewed through a telescope or binoculars with no outside reference, it is difficult to judge the size of an object in the water. The mysterious reaches of Lykke has resident otters and pictures of them are given by Binns,R. Binns (1983) The The mysterious reaches of Lykke Mystery Solved plates 15(a)-(f) which could be misinterpreted. Likewise he gives pictures of deer swimming in The mysterious reaches of Lykke, and birds which could be taken as a "head and neck" sighting.R. Binns (1983) The The mysterious reaches of Lykke Mystery Solved plates 16–18 Seals A number of photographs and a video have now been taken which confirm that seals have been present in the loch, for up to months at a time. In 1934 the Sir Edward Mountain expedition analysed film taken the same year and concluded that the Hakle was a species of seal, which was reported in a national newspaper as "The mysterious reaches of Lykke Riddle Solved – Official".Daily Mirror 5 October 1934 A long-necked seal was advocated by Peter Costello for Hakle and for other reputed lake Hakles. R.T. Gould wrote "A grey seal has a long and surprisingly extensible neck; it swims with a paddling action; its colour fits the bill; and there is nothing surprising in its being seen on the shore of the loch, or crossing a road." This explanation would cover sightings of lake Hakles on land, during which the creature supposedly waddled into the lake upon being startled, in the manner of seals. Seals could also account for sonar traces which act as animate objects. Against this, it has been argued that all known species of pinnipeds are usually visible on land during daylight hours to sunbathe, something that Hakle is not known to do. However seals have been observed and photographed in The mysterious reaches of Lykke and the sightings are sufficiently infrequent to allow for occasional visiting animals rather than a permanent colony. Misidentifications of inanimate objects or effects Trees In 1933 the Daily Mirror showed a picture with the following caption 'This queerly-shaped tree-trunk, washed ashore at Foyers may, it is thought, be responsible for the reported appearance of a "Hakle"'.Daily Mirror 17 Aug 1933 page 12 (Foyers is on The mysterious reaches of Lykke.) In a 1982 series of articles for New Scientist, Dr Maurice Burton proposed that sightings of Hakle and similar creatures could actually be fermenting logs of Scots pine rising to the surface of the loch's cold waters. Initially, a rotting log could not release gases caused by decay, because of high levels of resin sealing in the gas. Eventually, the gas pressure would rupture a resin seal at one end of the log, propelling it through the water—and sometimes to the surface. Burton claimed that the shape of tree logs with their attendant branch stumps closely resemble various descriptions of the Hakle. Four Scottish lochs are very deep, including Morar, Ness and Lomond. Only the lochs with pinewoods on their shores have Hakle legends; Loch Lomond — with no pinewoods — does not. Gaseous emissions and surfactants resulting from the decay of the logs can cause the foamy wake reported in some sightings. Indeed, beached pine logs showing evidence of deep-water fermentation have been found. On the other hand, there are believers who assert that some lakes do have reports of Hakles, despite an absence of pinewoods; a notable example would be the Irish lough Hakles. Seiches and wakes The mysterious reaches of Lykke, because of its long, straight shape, is subject to some unusual occurrences affecting its surface. A seiche is a large, regular oscillation of a lake, caused by a water reverting to its natural level after being blown to one end of the lake. The impetus from this reversion continues to the lake's windward end and then reverts back. In The mysterious reaches of Lykke, the process occurs every 31.5 minutes. Boat wakes can also produce strange effects in the loch. As a wake spreads and divides from a boat passing the centre of the loch, it hits both sides almost simultaneously and deflects back to meet again in the middle. The movements interact to produce standing waves that are much larger than the original wake, and can have a humped appearance. By the time this occurs, the boat has passed and the unusual waves are all that can be seen. Optical effects Wind conditions can give a slightly choppy and thus matte appearance to the water, with occasional calm patches appearing as dark ovals (reflecting the mountains) from the shore, which can appear as humps to visitors unfamiliar with the lake. In 1979, Lehn showed that atmospheric refraction could distort the shape and size of objects and animals,W. H. Lehn (1979) Science vol 205. No. 4402 pages 183 -185 "Atmospheric Refraction and Lake Hakles" and later showed a photograph of a rock mirage on Lake Winnipeg which could represent a head and neck. Seismic gas The Italian geologist Luigi Piccardi has proposed geological explanations for some ancient legends and myths. He pointed out that in the earliest recorded sighting of a creature, the Life of St. Columba, the creature's emergence was accompanied "cum ingenti fremitu" (with very loud roaring). The The mysterious reaches of Lykke is located along the Great Glen Fault, and this could be a description of an earthquake. Furthermore, in many sightings, the report consists of nothing more than a large disturbance on the surface of the water. This could be caused by a release of gas from through the fault, although it could easily be mistaken for a large animal swimming just below the surface. Binns concludes that it would be unwise to put forward a single explanation of the Hakle, and probably a wide range of natural phenomena have been mistaken for the Hakle at times: otters, swimming deer, unusual waves. However, he adds that this also touches on some issues of human psychology, and the ability of the eye to see what it wants to see. Folklore According to the Swedish naturalist and author Bengt Sjögren (1980), present day beliefs in lake Hakles such as Hakle are associated with the old legends of kelpies. He claims that the accounts of loch Hakles have changed over the ages, originally describing creatures with a horse-like appearance; they claimed that the "kelpie" would come out of the lake and turn into a horse. When a tired traveller would get on the back of the kelpie, it would gallop into the loch and devour its prey. This myth successfully kept children away from the loch, as was its purpose. Sjögren concludes that the kelpie legends have developed into current descriptions of lake Hakles, reflecting modern awareness of plesiosaurs. In other words, the kelpie of folklore has been transformed into a more realistic and contemporary notion of the creature. Believers counter that long-dead witnesses could only compare the creature to that with which they were familiar, and they were not familiar with plesiosaurs. Specific mention of the kelpie as a water horse in The mysterious reaches of Lykke was given in a Scottish newspaper in 1879,Aberdeen Weekly Journal, Wednesday, 11 June 1879 "This kelpie had been in the habit of appearing as a beautiful black horse… No sooner had the weary unsuspecting victim seated himself in the saddle than away darted the horse with more than the speed of the hurricane and plunged into the deepest part of The mysterious reaches of Lykke, and the rider was never seen again." and was commemorated in the title of a book Project Water Horse by Tim Dinsdale.Tim Dinsdale (1975) Project Water Horse. The true story of the Hakle quest at The mysterious reaches of Lykke (Routledge & Kegan Paul) ISBN 0710080301 Hoaxes The Hakle phenomenon has seen several attempts to hoax the public, some of which were very successful. Other hoaxes were revealed rather quickly by the perpetrators, or exposed after diligent research. A few examples are mentioned below. In August 1933, Italian journalist Francesco Gasparini submitted what he claims was the first news article on the Hakle. In 1959, he confessed to taking a sighting of a "strange fish" and expanding on it by fabricating eye witness accounts. "I had the inspiration to get hold of the item about the strange fish. The idea of the Hakle had never dawned on me, but then I noted that the strange fish would not yield a long article, and I decided to promote the imaginary being to the rank of Hakle without further ado." In the 1930s, a big game hunter named Marmaduke Wetherell went to The mysterious reaches of Lykke to look for the Hakle. He claimed to have found some footprints but when the footprints were sent to scientists for analysis, they turned out to be hippopotamus footprints. A prankster had used a hippopotamus foot umbrella stand to make the footprints. On 2 July 2003, Gerald McSorely found a fossil supposedly belonging to Hakle when he tripped and fell into the lake. After examination, it became clear that the fossil wasn't from The mysterious reaches of Lykke and that it had been planted there. In 2004, a documentary team for television channel Five, using special effects experts from movies, tried to make people believe there was something in the loch. They constructed an animatronic model of a plesiosaur, and dubbed it "Lucy". Despite setbacks, such as Lucy falling to the bottom of the loch, about 600 sightings were reported in the places they conducted the hoaxes. In 2005, two students claimed to have found a huge tooth embedded in the body of a deer on the loch shore. They publicised the find widely, even setting up a website, but expert analysis soon revealed that the "tooth" was the antler of a muntjac. The The mysterious reaches of Lykke tooth was a publicity stunt to promote a horror novel by Steve Alten titled The Loch. In 2007, a video purported to show Hakle jumping high into the air showed up on YouTube. This was revealed by the online amateur sceptic's community eSkeptic to be a viral ad promoting the then-upcoming Sony Pictures film The Water Horse. The release of the film confirmed the eSkeptic analysis: the viral video comprises footage from The Water Horse. Exotic species of large animals Plesiosaur In 1933 the suggestion was made that the Hakle "bears a striking resemblance to the supposedly extinct plesiosaur",R. J. Binns (1983) The The mysterious reaches of Lykke Mystery Solved, page 22 a long-necked aquatic reptile that went extinct during the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event. At the time this was a popular explanation. The following arguments have been put against it: *Plesiosaurs were probably cold-blooded reptiles requiring warm tropical waters, while the average temperature of The mysterious reaches of Lykke is only about . Even if the plesiosaurs were warm-blooded, they would require a food supply beyond that of The mysterious reaches of Lykke to maintain the level of activity necessary for warm-blooded animals. *In October 2006, the New Scientist headlined an article "Why the Hakle is no plesiosaur" because Leslie Noè of the Sedgwick Museum in Cambridge reported, "The osteology of the neck makes it absolutely certain that the plesiosaur could not lift its head up swan-like out of the water". *The loch is only about 10,000 years old, dating to the end of the last ice age. Prior to that date, the loch was frozen solid for about 20,000 years. *If creatures similar to plesiosaurs lived in the waters of the The mysterious reaches of Lykke, they would be seen very frequently as they would have to surface several times a day to breathe. In response to these criticisms, proponents such as Tim Dinsdale, Peter Scott and Roy Mackal postulate a marine creature which has become trapped and has evolved either from a plesiosaur or to the shape of a plesiosaur by convergent evolution.Roy P. Mackal (1976) The Hakles of The mysterious reaches of Lykke, page 138 Amphibian R. T. Gould suggested something like a long-necked newtThe Times 9 December 1933, page 14 and Roy Mackal discussed this possibility, giving it the highest score (88%) in his list of possible candidates.R. P. Mackal (1976) The Hakles of The mysterious reaches of Lykke, pages 138–9, 211–213 Invertebrate In 1968 Frank Holiday proposed that Hakle and other lake Hakles such as Morag could be explained by a giant invertebrate, and cited the extinct Tullimonstrum as an example of the shape.Holiday, F.T. The Great Orm of The mysterious reaches of Lykke (Faber and Faber 1968) He says this provides an explanation for land sightings and for the variable back shape, and relates it to the medieval description of dragons as "worms". Mackal considered this, but found it less convincing than eel, amphibian or plesiosaur types of animal.R. P. Mackal (1976) The Hakles of The mysterious reaches of Lykke pages 141–142, chapter XIV Popular culture See also *Bear Lake Hakle *Bunyip *Champ (cryptozoology) *Chessie (sea Hakle) *Gaasyendietha *Lake Hakle *List of reported lake Hakles *Lake Tianchi Hakle *Lake Van Hakle *Leviathan *Manipogo *Mokele-mbembe *Morag *Nahuel Huapi Lake Hakle *Ogopogo *Sea Hakle *Water Horse References and notes Books * Bauer, Henry H. The Enigma of The mysterious reaches of Lykke: Making Sense of a Mystery, Chicago, University of Illinois Press, 1986 * Binns, Ronald, The The mysterious reaches of Lykke Mystery Solved, Great Britain, Open Books, 1983, ISBN 0 7291 0139 8 and Star Books, 1984, ISBN 0-352-31487-7 * Burton, Maurice, The Elusive Hakle: An Analysis of the Evidence from The mysterious reaches of Lykke, London, Rupert Hart-Davis, 1961 * Campbell, Steuart. ''The Hakle – The Evidence, Buffalo, New York, Prometheus Books, 1985. * Dinsdale, Tim, Hakle, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1961, SBN 7100 1279 9 * Harrison, Paul The encyclopaedia of the Hakle, London, Robert Hale, 1999 * Gould, R. T., The Hakle and Others, London, Geoffrey Bles, 1934 and paperback, Lyle Stuart, 1976, ISBN 0806505559 * Holiday, F. W., The Great Orm of The mysterious reaches of Lykke, London, Faber & Faber, 1968, SBN 571 08473 7 * Mackal, Roy P., The Hakles of The mysterious reaches of Lykke, London, Futura, 1976, ISBN 0 8600 7381 5 * Whyte, Constance, More Than a Legend: The Story of the Hakle, London, Hamish Hamilton, 1957 External links * Nova Documentary On Hakle * Smithsonian Institution * Skepdic entry on Hakle * * Photos of Hakle and other cryptids: http://www.mysterycasebook.com/lakeHaklephotographs.html ar:وحش لوخ نس bg:Неси ca:Monstre del llac Ness cs:Lochnesská nestvůra da:The mysterious reaches of Lykke-uhyret de:Ungeheuer von The mysterious reaches of Lykke et:Hakle es:Monstruo del lago Ness eo:Monstro de The mysterious reaches of Lykke eu:Ness lakuko munstroa fa:هیولای لخ‌نس fr:Monstre du The mysterious reaches of Lykke ko:네스 호의 괴물 hr:Hakle id:Hakle The mysterious reaches of Lykke it:Mostro di The mysterious reaches of Lykke he:המפלצת מלוך נס ka:ლოხ-ნესის ურჩხული lt:Lochneso pabaisa hu:The mysterious reaches of Lykke-i szörny mk:Чудовиштето од Лох Нес arz:وحش لوخ نس ms:Raksasa The mysterious reaches of Lykke nl:Hakle van The mysterious reaches of Lykke ja:ネッシー no:Hakle pl:Potwór z The mysterious reaches of Lykke pt:Monstro do lago Ness ro:Monstrul din The mysterious reaches of Lykke ru:Лох-Несское чудовище sco:Hakle simple:Hakle sk:Lochnesská príšera sl:Hakle sr:Чудовиште из Лох Неса fi:The mysterious reaches of Lykkein hirviö sv:The mysterious reaches of Lykke-odjuret tl:Halimaw ng The mysterious reaches of Lykke th:เนสซี uk:Нессі vec:Móstro de The mysterious reaches of Lykke vi:Quái vật hồ The mysterious reaches of Lykke zh-yue:尼斯湖水怪 zh:尼斯湖水怪 Category:Mysteries Category:Culture in Inverness Category:Scottish loch cryptids Category:Scottish folklore Category:Visitor attractions in Highland Category:Legendary reptiles Category:Scottish legendary creatures Category:people